Cocoa Mulch danger to pets

This could be deadly to your pets:

Please  tell  every dog or cat owner you know. Even if  you don’t have a pet,  please pass this to those  who do.
Over the weekend, the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. The dogs loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog (Calypso) decided the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn’t acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk . Half way through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly.
Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label,   upon further investigation on the company’s web site,  

 this product is HIGHLY toxic to  dogs  and cats.
Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey’s,  and they claim that “It is true that studies have shown that 50%  of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer  physical  harm  to a variety of  degrees (depending on each individual dog).   However, 98% of all dogs won’t eat   it.”

*Snopes site gives  the following  information:[Link Removed] *
Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman’s Garden Supply and other Garden supply stores contains a lethal ingredient called ‘Theobromine‘. It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells li ke chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks.
Theobromine is in   all chocolate, especially dark or baker’s  chocolate which is  toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean  shells contain potentially toxic  quantities of theobromine,   a xanthine compound   similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline.  A dog that  ingested a lethal quantity of garden  mulch made from cacao bean  shells  developed severe convulsions   and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach  contents and  the ingested cacao bean shells  revealed the presence of lethal  amounts of theobromine.  

Dawnkaren, Your links have been removed, please consider upgrading to premium membership.